Sunbow, Montana
by Macx
Summary: Alternate Universe. This is what happens when the Weird Bunny bites me... A different look at one Autobot and one Decepticon... a very different look! You have been warned! Rating for suggestive content
1. Sunbow Montana

TITLE: Sunbow, Montana

AUTHOR: Macx  
RATING: R-ish  
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money  
Author's Voice of Warning (aka Author's Note):  
English is not my first language; it's German. This is the best I can do. Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize The spell-checker said everything's okay, but you know how trustworthy those thingies are...  
FEEDBACK: Loved  
BETA: okamimyrrhibis

I don't know where this bunny came from, but it hung around for months until I actually wrote this fic.  
It's been written. Bunny is happy.  
Don't sue me.  
Enjoy.  
hides

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Three days. Three days to himself. No job, no pressing personal matters to attend to. Just three days to do what he wanted, even if it meant stay in bed all day.

Time to go out for a ride.

Maybe pack his gear and spend time in the mountains. Oh, yeah, that sounded cool. It wasn't too hot throughout the days yet, the nights weren't freezing any more, and he knew a few spots where even a storm could be out-weathered should one surprise him.

Yes, camping sounded fine.

Now all he needed to do was convince his partner of that.

Jace Marshall rolled out of bed, scratched himself, stretched, took in the glorious early morning, and headed for the bathroom. Twenty minutes later he was showered and shaved and ready to rumble, so to speak.

According to the empty spot he had found at his side in bed this morning, Cade was already up and about. It was typical. The man was a morning person. As well as a night owl. How he did it was beyond Jace.

Following the smell of coffee he padded down into the kitchen, still smiling. There was the usual chaos on the couch table from last night. Crumbled up chips bag, empty popcorn bowl, beer cans, all empty too. His stack of National Geographic magazines was piling high next to 'his' spot on the couch, and the Planet Earth DVD was still in the DVD player.

The kitchen looked almost spotless. There was a used coffee mug – Cade's – and a read newspaper on the table. The coffee pot was still half full and Jace made a beeline for it, filling his own mug and enjoying the routine morning caffeine boost.

His gaze fell out the kitchen window onto the hard-packed ground in front of the farm building. Taking his coffee, he stepped out onto the porch, breathing in the crisp air. Goose bumps crawled over his arms, but he didn't go back inside for a jacket. Jace simply stepped into a sun spot and shivered a little as he warmed up.

The old barn was casting shadows that would soon dwindle away until late afternoon. Jace kept his car in there, an old white 1981 Porsche 935 Turbo that was still running faithfully. He kept tinkering with it and it hadn't deserted him yet. Cade's Mustang was usually parked beside it. It was the complete opposite, being a new model, gleaming black, but also the pride of its owner. And he could be proud. Jace had no idea how his lover had managed to get his hands on the rare S281 RF Supercharged, but Barrett knew people who knew people who again knew of people who might be able to get him what cars he wanted. Legally, of course.

Cade could spend whole weekends with his car, talking about engines, brakes, drivelines, aerodynamics, tweaking that, getting more horsepower out of this, and Jace listened to it all with a fine smile. That smile usually grew a lot wider when he recalled making out in that sleek, black car, or on it.

Jace loved his home. He had inherited it from his great-grandfather years ago, but hadn't moved in until five years back. Ever since starting his job in Sunbow, a small but thriving Montanan town. He had grown up in such a town, then gone off to college, then joined the Army, only to come back here not much later.

First Lieutenant Jace Marshall had retired after twelve years of service and had turned to working whatever jobs came his way. Financially he wasn't all too bad off. The government had paid well for Jace's work, something he couldn't talk about most of the time, something that was so covered up, it didn't even exist. That his last job had almost killed him and handicapped him for future government work had helped in the money department, too. He had been set with quite an amount of money.

It helped to have a second income, though.

Speaking of which…

Jace smiled as he discovered the steadily moving shape in the distance that soon became a human being. Barrett Cade was the town's Sheriff. He had grown up together with Jace, they had been to the same school, just two classes apart, but unlike Jace he had stayed in Sunbow to become first Deputy and then Sheriff himself after old Ben Prowl had retired.

And Sunbow never had a more attractive one, Jace mused, smiling widening.

Not that any of the female, or male, population had a chance. Cade might not be the world's romantic man, he never showed affections in public, he came across as hard-assed as Jace's old captain in the Army, but underneath all that cold and distant exterior lay something only Jace had ever touched.

They had been together for almost as long as Jace had been back. Before that it had been an on and off affair. A wild one, too. Filled with passion and fights for dominance in each encounter. Jace was a hard-assed soldier, Cade was a tough-nut cop.

_Square hole, round peg_, he thought. But they fit. By God, they fit. It was amazing.

What was even more amazing was the acceptance in town. Mayor Orrin Paxton had only raised an eye brow when Sheriff Cade had moved in with Jace, and over a beer had asked him what had taken them so long.

Barrett raised an eyebrow as he discovered Jace, dressed in his sweats and a ratty gray t-shirt, and stopped on the porch. He was in his running outfit and Jace appreciated how it looked on the other man. Sleek, black, dangerous… so much like his car, so much like the cop he was.

Damn, he was one sexy man.

"Up already?"

Jace grinned. "Sun woke me. I was thinking about going up into the mountains. Maybe swing by old Cooper's place. See if he needs something."

And listen to the old man's war stories, Jace thought to himself. No one knew how much of it was true or how much Cooper had made up. He seemed to believe everything he told whoever was willing to listen.

"Three days off and you want to run off into the wilderness," came the disinterested comment.

"It's relaxing."

It got him a snort and Cade walked inside. Jace trailed after him. He watched the lithe, athletic form of his lover as Cade shed his sweat jacket and he felt something stir at the sight of the t-shirt clad back. Barrett kept fit because of his job and it showed. By God, it showed just deliciously well.

They had had so little time together lately. Cade had been busy in town since someone had taken a knife to some cattle and horses, trying to mutilate them. He had caught the guy – some deranged lunatic from two towns over, high on a new drug called EnergonX – after three weeks of non-stop investigation. It hadn't helped that Jace had had two out of town jobs, helping a neighbor set up a new fence and then drive a herd of cattle onto the new grounds just before that.

Yesterday had been the first night spent together. Not that much had happened. Barrett had been too tired and Jace had been more than content to watch his lover sleep. The hard lines in the sharply defined face smoothed out when Cade relaxed and he sometimes made soft noises in his sleep when Jace touched him.

Not that he would ever admit to them. At least verbally. His body language was enough, though. Three stressful weeks had finally taken their toll and Barrett had fallen asleep on the couch, been barely awake enough to get upstairs, and then just coordinated enough to let Jace steer him to bed. Jace knew that should there have been a situation demanding his lover's alertness, Cade would have been fully awake in seconds, no matter what, but this was their safe haven.

"Interested?" Jace now asked.

Cade turned and ran dark eyes up and down Jace's body. Marshall felt something hot flush through him. When the other man walked over to him, movements so smooth and controlled like stalking a prey, the flush turned into a veritable rush. Damn, they had known each other too long for him to go all hormonal, but apparently those treacherous body functions had different ideas.

"I could be tempted," was the dark reply.

And that voice did the rest. Shit!

"Really? What'd I have to do?" Jace asked.

A strong hand grabbed him, pulled him close. "Stay."

"Wasn't this about tempting you into going camping with me?"

Damn, it was always hard to ignore Cade's body. He had seen it in all its glory so many times before, but the past draught had made Jace highly sensitive to his own needs.

"Tempt me."

His free hand was clutching the back of the sweaty shirt, black, Cade's favorite color, and Jace looked into the dark brown eyes – a contrast to his own gray-blue ones. There was a taunting smile in there, lips curing in that devilishly handsome face, and he felt his own answering smile.

"You sayin' we should stay here?"

"I'm saying," Barrett drawled.

Then his lips were on Jace's and the other man reacted with the same fervor and strength, giving as good as he got, teeth and lips and tongues dueling. When they finally separated, both looked flushed and there was an unholy light in Cade's eyes.

"Still want to leave?"

"Well… you might have to tie me down…"

"That can be arranged."

Okay, now there was definitely more than a rush. His whole body was taking interest.

Barrett laughed. "You are kinky, Jace."

"I learned from the best."

Cade's finger's were suddenly under his shirt and trailing over his skin, making him squirm. They found his scars unerringly, following their jagged path. Jace was starting to breathe harder. As disfiguring as they were, having Barrett touch them this way had always been quite erotic. He still remembered the look in those hard eyes the first time Cade had seen them after his honorable discharge from the Army, when they had lain together in Cade's bed. It had been a frightening expression that had softened into something neither had ever spoken out loud.

Jace had known that this might truly last between them then and there. A week later Barrett had moved in.

"Three days?" Cade now asked.

"Three days," Jace confirmed, suppressing a groan when one hand slid under his sweat pants and squeezed his ass.

"Then we should make the best of it."

"Probably."

Cade was kissing him again, pushing him back against the wall, demanding and taking over control. Jace let him – for now. He knew he would have more than ample chance to return the favor, and when his pants pooled around his ankles and his lover was on his knees in front of him, he forgot all about control and just let himself feel what he had missed for almost two months.

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Barrett studied the naked man with him in bed. They did that a lot, lying together, running hands over the other's skin. Cade had grown addicted to the easy contact, to the warmth in his lover's eyes, the way the slender form moved with him, moved for him, under him, above him… the way Jace was at his side, no matter what.

His fingers touched the jagged lines on his partner's back and sides. Scars had remained of the terrible injuries that had nearly killed the one person who had touched him deeper than anyone else ever before or after. The scars showed Barrett just what Jace had gone through on his last assignment, what had nearly killed him, but he had come out stronger.

He ran explorative finger tips over the marks, drawing a little hitched breath out of the man sharing his bed with him. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against the closest scar, letting his tongue bathe it briefly before drawing back and looking into those brown eyes.

Cade had never asked what exactly had happened. He could read it in Marshall's eyes. He had never asked much about what Jace did while working for the Army in all the years they had known each other, and he understood that most of it was classified, had probably never happened or some shit like that.

Moving in together had been like a natural next step to Jace's return. Their prior encounters, mostly pure sex, some snuggles, a too short good-bye, then months of no contact, had come together into this: an equal partnership. A relationship that ran much deeper than just fuck buddies. Maybe it had been the sight of those scars, a vivid picture of how close Cade had come to losing this man, that had finally made him make his move. Maybe it had just been this long, long time of too little contact.

Cade had never understood just what the handsome guy girls lusted after had seen in him. Jace had been popular in school. Two years younger, bright, athletic, intelligent, the all-out good boy. Of course he had gotten into trouble, but what boy hadn't? Barrett hadn't been the most out-going personality; still wasn't, even in his job. He had repelled more people than he had attracted as bed-partners, but Jace hadn't been deterred by his manners. He had actually courted him.

Cade smiled a little.

Yes, Jace Marshall had courted Barrett Cade, and he had finally had success. A brief one-night stand had blossomed into something neither had wanted to define, had held tight over the years, and when Jace had come back from his Army time, Cade had been ready to have him here forever.

Harmonious times like these were too few. They knew how to fight, they had their own heads, they bickered and loved and yelled and made up and shared living space like every couple. Cade had made a vow to himself to be with this man, to share everything with him, weather all storms, and while they had both expected one over their rather open style of being a couple, there had only been mild rumblings. Those had quieted down a long time ago.

Jace sighed and turned, smiling lazily at Barrett. Those bright blue eyes were a sin. With a hint of gray, bright and open and filled with life. He leaned down and kissed his lover's lips.

"Lunch?" Jace asked when they parted.

"You cooking?"

"Only if you're up for frozen pizza 'cause I doubt I could get us anything more complicated without burning it."

Barrett chuckled and kissed him again. "I like pizza."

"You eat everything that doesn't run away on the count of three," Jace teased.

It got him a growl, but Jace pulled him into a passionate kiss, pulling him closer, skin to skin, and Barrett let him lead.

When they parted those bright blue eyes were darker now. "Pizza it is. But I need a shower first."

With that he slipped out of bed, giving Cade a very good view of the tanned body. He grinned appreciatively.

No, he had no idea what he had done to attract this special man, but he would do anything to keep him. Jace was his and he was possessive, he knew. Not easily jealous, though.

The sound of the shower told him that Jace was cleaning up, so he slid out of bed and slipped into his clothes. He walked down into the kitchen, rooted through the freezer, found two ham and mushroom pizzas, and fired up the oven.

Leaning against the counter, his eyes gazed out the window. It was sunny outside, perfect, wonderful, just another day. He would enjoy the time he had with his lover before Jace's next job took him out of town for two days. It was never long, but Cade had come to like company in the evening, share couch space, talk about work, listen to Jace's voice as he recounted his own day.

So… familiar. So normal.

He liked it.

Because he loved Jace,

Simple as that.

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A spring storm changed all plans. Jace wouldn't go out to Jack Wheeler's place to lend a helping hand or two. Wheeler and his 'business partner' Logan Grim owned an old ranch a few miles out of town and had steadily turned it into a junkyard. Wheeler called it an artist's place, since he and Grim were hammering away at the old junk and turning it into rather respectable looking, giant metal monsters. Dinosaurs, Jack told Jace proudly. And it was going to be a Jurassic Park of sorts, with people paying to see the art.

So far only tourists who actually got lost around here came to see the art, but Wheeler had made it into a tiny guide as an 'off the beaten path' attraction. He was immensely proud of it.

Logan was the strong and silent type, rarely speaking more than three words per hour, but he knew his trade. He was apparently a dinosaur fan and wanted to turn Sunbow into the American Drumheller just a few hundred miles up north, across the Canadian border. That they had no dinosaur bones or a possible archaeological site anywhere near by didn't sway him off his dream.

Their passion for old junk had cost Jack his wife already, but he didn't seem to mind. He was happy tinkering around, trying to get his contraptions to move, make noise, and find someone to put him on a permanent map of America's famous land marks. Grim was simply happy with bending metal into shape.

Jace slipped through the door, which was almost blown out of his hands, and shut it firmly, leaving the howling winds outside. He had secured the barn and taken a look around the house, just to make sure. The storm would last all day, according to the forecast, and only get worse. This was usually the time they holed up.

Cade was on the radio, talking to one of his deputies in town. He was dressed in his old jeans and an even older long-sleeved tee. Washed so often already that the pattern on the chest had faded into nothing. Black hair tousled, a hint of beard shadow… Jace knew he was close to drooling.

"Trouble?" he asked instead.

"Not yet. I'm on call.

"Cool. We've got all the snack food that's bad for us, a still working cable connection, and nothing to do but wait out the storm." Jace grinned. "How about it?"

Cade raised one brow. "You are insatiable, you know that?"

"I was talking sports channel and movies!"

It got him a snort. "Right."

"Buuuut," Jace continued, hooking a finger into the hem of his lover's jeans to pull him closer. "I'm open for suggestions."

"You always are."

They kissed slowly, with just the bare hint of tongue, and Jace watched the hard features soften. He knew the others would never believe it possible for Barrett Cade to be like this, but he did. It was all that counted. People still wondered what he saw in the Sheriff, how he could live with a man who so rarely cracked up emotionally. Cade was good in his job, liked by his deputies and not feared, hard but fair. Jace knew there was someone else underneath and that was the man he loved.

In the end it was snuggling together on the couch, watching a game, arguing about tactics and foolish moves and who was the best team this year. Barrett fought him over the remote control to see the end of a race until Jace surrendered, laughing.

There were no calls for the Sheriff the rest of the day or throughout the night as the storm roared around them, shaking the house, rattling at the windows, drowning out the sounds coming from the bed room.

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...And now to give you an idea who is who in case you didn't figure them out:

Jace Marshall – Jazz (the last name came from reading up on Jazz on Wikipedia and seeing that in some alternate version he was supposed to be called Marshall). G1 Porsche alt mode as his car  
Barrett Cade – Barricade; hence the Mustang in the barn  
Jack Wheeler – Wheeljack  
Logan Grim – Grimlock; you did get the dinosaur hint, right?  
Orrin Paxton – Orion Pax/Optimus Prime  
Old Cooper – Kup  
Sunbow – the production company from the G1 cartoon  
Ben Prowl – do I have to spell it out? Prowl  
Drumheller – a real place in Alberta/Canada. Been there, saw the dinos, went to Dinosaur Provincial Park, loved it

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!


	2. Code 10 32

TITLE: Sunbow, Montana II – Code 10-32,  
AUTHOR: Macx  
RATING: R-ish  
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money  
Author's Voice of Warning (aka Author's Note):  
English is not my first language; it's German. This is the best I can do. Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize The spell-checker said everything's okay, but you know how trustworthy those thingies are...  
FEEDBACK: Loved

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The call had come in while Jace had been out repairing damaged fences over on the MoonClyde Ranch. It was a horse ranch owned by Razia Moore and Peter Clyde, one of the oddest couples of Sunbow. Razia had come here because her father had worked several summer jobs in the area when she had been a child and the Moore family had finally decided to stay. There were always plenty of jobs. She was a headstrong woman who knew everything there was about horses, and Peter had fallen head over heels in love with her when he had seen her ride at the annual horse rodeo six years ago.

Peter was a pilot, flying one of those crop dusters most of the summer, though he wasn't dusting crop with it. He flew air shows and did stunts. Jace had never met a more fly-crazy guy than Pete.

Since Pete had broken some ribs and dislocated a shoulder falling off the roof trying to repair storm damage, Jace had offered to help out with the fence.

Looking at the display of the cell now, he frowned as he saw the caller ID.

"Yeah?" he took the call.

All color left his face and he dropped the tools.

"I'm on my way, doc. Be there as fast as I can!"

With that he was already running toward his truck.

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Dr. Chet Foxworth was Sunbow's general practice doctor. His office was located at the end of main street, right across from the fire station. He wasn't just responsible for the town, but also worked as the medic on call for wilderness incidents. The fire station had a helicopter landing pad that would take him wherever in the area some hiker had gotten into trouble or a driver had ended up in a ditch, though he preferred driving. It had, of course, nothing to do with the H2 rescue vehicle the fire department provided for him.

Jace had parked almost on the sidewalk in his hurry to get into the building, and he was immediately ushered into the treatment room. His eyes fell on the dishevelled looking figure on the table, sitting with his shoulders slightly hunched over, fingers of one hand curled tightly around the edge of the treatment table while cradling the other hand to his chest, eyes closed.

Jace felt his throat go dry as he took in the injuries that were only too plain to see. Cade's face looking like someone had banged it against something hard and unyielding repeatedly. There was one big bruise running down his left side, starting at a lacerated and stitched-up temple to his split lip. The eye was already puffy and closing. His left wrist was bandaged and the black jeans had been cut open to immobilize the knee.

"That was fast," came the dry remark and Dr. Chet Foxworth looked up from where he had been cleaning his hands. "Hey, Jace."

Foxworth was a guy you would sooner place in pro football than the medical department. Broad-shouldered, blond, sun-burned square face, and bright blue eyes. His all-American looks couldn't cover the attitude, though. No patient argued long with him about treatment methods and the necessity of hospital or overnight stays. Even Barrett Cade.

"What happened?" Jace blurted.

He had seen all kinds of injuries while in the Army, but he had never seen his lover hurt. As sheriff, Barrett got into fights, sure, but he was trained enough to avoid serious harm to his own person. He broke up fights, intervened with drunkards intent on stirring up trouble, and he had once even wrestled with a renitent cow that had chosen Sunbow as its playground. It had made the local paper and Jace had teased him for days with it, pinning the lucky shot from one of the by-standers up on their fridge.

No teasing here. This was serious.

"Drunk driver hit the patrol car out on Old Tranquility and pushed him off the road down Mission Hill. The car was totalled. I'm off to look at the drunkard the moment I know his grouchiness in good hands."

Jace's mouth was dry and he stared at his partner in shock. Barrett's good eye was clouded with a mixture of pain, exhaustion and not yet fully working pain-killers. There was anger in there, too, and indignation about being talked about by Chet like this.

"How bad?"

"Bruised ribs, sprained wrist, banged up knee," the Doc told him as if recounting his shopping list. "Nothing life-threatening. Put a few stitches into that hard head of his. Take him home, Jace. Berta has his medication out front. He needs rest. Lots of it."

"He'll get it, doc," Jace promised.

"Sit on him if you have to. I don't want to see his banged-up chassis around here for the next week. You got that, Sheriff?"

Cade glared at him, but it was barely more than a weak copy of his usual one.

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Getting Barrett into the truck was almost hazardous, but thanks to Berta Jace finally had him buckled in. Foxworth's receptionist gave Jace a smile, then went back inside.

He pulled out and drove back to the farm as carefully as possible, but nothing could help the jolts rattling through the cab as the truck hit bumps and dips. Barrett looked decidedly ghost-like when they finally stopped and for a moment Jace was afraid he'd either faint or throw up, but he didn't.

With no Berta to help him, he had to manage to get Cade inside and onto the couch alone, though not without inadvertently hurting him twice.

"Sorry," he said softly.

It got him a grunt. Barrett's eyes were closed, his breathing was shallow, and he had curled his injured arm over his bruised ribs.

"I'll get you a glass of water for the pills. You just relax."

Barrett glared at him and tried to get comfortable, but between his knee, ribs and wrist it was hard to see how he could.

He normally refused to take a lot of medication if he didn't really have to, but for now, he had to. The pain made him. Jace carded his fingers through the messy black hair.

"Want to stay here for a while or get to bed?"

"Here," was the rough answer.

"Okay. Hungry?"

"No."

"Get some sleep then, Barrett. I'll be here."

Jace watched his partner as he dozed off, fighting his fear, his panic, all those emotions that couldn't be controlled easily, not even with Army training. Of course Cade was a cop and he lived a dangerous life on his job, but despite that, Jace had never worried a lot. So this hit him all the more.

Damn.

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Cade had never been a good patient, so it was pure luck he hadn't ended up in a hospital or Doc Foxworth's practice more often. He hated to be incapacitated, to be helpless, to rely on others for simple tasks. That these 'others' was no one else but his partner of many years didn't change the fact that he was biting the hand that was trying to help him every step of the way. His wrist was okay if he didn't turn it wrong, his ribs he could live with, even if he had to take shallower breaths, but the knee was just bothersome.

So he snapped and snarled and bit at Jace. He was attack-happy, like a cornered bull, and his temper was on a very short leash. It was a small miracle his lover didn't just kick his butt out of the house or pack a bag and move in with old Cooper up on Steelhaven Road. Anyone had to be easier to suffer than Barrett at the moment.

Of course Jace didn't just take it. He was neither shy nor submissive nor timid. He was anything but. He had served in the Army, he had been on black ops missions. So Jace Marshall bit right back and the fights got loud and ugly, with Jace winning more often than not, mainly because it was true that Cade needed help, that he had to accept that he had been injured in the line of duty, and he wasn't a machine that could be repaired and sent back on duty.

His deputies had been over a few times. Finch Firenzy had taken one nervous look around, then beat a hasty retreat, probably aware of the tense air in the house. Finch was a rather high-strung kid, but good at his job, and mostly doing office work. He was a computer geek and the best Barrett knew. There was nothing he couldn't hack and no one he couldn't track through electronic trails. He was amazing and very useful in his own way, which was why Cade ignored the lack of social skills and the atrocious amount of sweet stuff the kid stuffed himself with – and stayed as thin as a wisp.

Deputy Blake Sides had only dumped the files he had requested on the table and given him the raised eye-brows at the dark look he had received. Where Finch was high-strung, he was laid-back and so grounded, Cade sometimes expected him to grow roots. He had been with Barrett's team from the get-go and while his other deputy Boone had left for his own sheriff post in another town, Blake had never shown that ambition.

"Suck it up, Cade," the broad-shouldered deputy had rumbled. "You know the drill. Doc tells you that you can work, you come back. Till then, we run the show for you. Don't worry. I won't let Finch break anything."

Barrett frowned. "How's the car?"

"Totalled. Told you right away it was a loss. Wheeler's towed it off and will probably work it into one of his art pieces. You should be honored," Blake laughed. "Logan's talking about making a raptor out of it. Wants to name it Barricade."

"Get out and patrol the streets," Barrett snarled.

"I wonder how Jace puts up with your sunny moods. I'd have kicked your ass to Tranquility already."

And with that he was off again. Cade listened to the massive truck Blake loved so much start and then roll down the road. He grabbed some files and tried to find a comfortable way of sitting on the couch, then gave up on it and simply read through the case files. It kept him busy.

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Cade didn't see much of Jace the next few days since his partner was still over at the MoonClyde ranch, and it wasn't like he hadn't yelled at him to stay away from him in their last fight. Barrett sighed and rubbed his aching knee. It had been two weeks now. Two weeks filled with daily arguments, Jace enforcing the rule of bed rest and taking his medication, and Barrett fighting him every painful step of the way.

Yes, he could be an asshole when he was sick. Yes, Jace was just as much of one when they really got into it. Yes, he should apologize. And no, it wasn't his strong point. He'd rather get struck by a drunk driver in some hideously large and expensive truck that had no business being driven by this maniac and pushed down the hill again than look into the hard blue eyes and say he was sorry.

So things stewed.

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Cade was the first to wake that morning, as always. The pain made it even earlier than usual and from the exhausted look on Jace's face when he had returned last night, his partner wouldn't be up any time soon. With Pete still sick, the ranch needed all the help it could get, and spring always meant all hands on deck. Razia had already called their usual helpers and asked them to return two weeks earlier than normal and by Monday there should be enough people to take the load off Jace.

Because of the exhaustion the fights had lessened. Coupled with the healing ribs, wrist and knee, which meant a lot less discomfort for Cade, things were smoothing over little by little.

Barrett limped into the kitchen and looked around for the coffee. He groaned when he discovered that someone, probably Jace, had placed it onto the shelf above the coffee machine. On the top most shelf.

He had no idea what happened first, his knee giving way or the coffee box tilting. In the end there was only the loud bang of the metal box hitting the tiled kitchen floor, coffee spilling all over the place. There was Cade, his world tilting sharply as he fell, hands grabbing helplessly for purchase, but his own weight pulled him down. His leg luckily didn't twist, but it gave a sharp, shooting pain and he yelled.

For a long moment there was only the angry pulse from his abused knee and his own heavy breathing. Then a voice interrupted his own private misery.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Cade's eyes blazed as he looked up from the floor, clutching his knee just below the knee cap.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he snapped. "I was trying to make coffee!"

Jace looked deliciously tousled and sleepy, and Barrett would have appreciated the sight on any other day, but not today, not now in this particular situation.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"You were sleeping, Jace!"

"You're supposed to let me do the work!"

"I'm not a child!"

The pain made him cranky. He knew he was slipping into more and more crankiness with each pulse of pain, with each argument, but it was a downward spiral Cade couldn't stop.

Jace just sighed and helped him up, something that made Barrett even more pissed. His brain registered the pale features of his lover, the exhaustion present in every line that hadn't been there before, but it was a secondary observation. Foremost Barrett Cade was furious about his own inability to be independent, especially with small tasks like making coffee.

He tore his arm out of Jace's grasp and hobbled over to the kitchen counter to have something to lean on.

"Cade, I'm here to help…"

"Don't coddle me, Marshall!" Cade shot back. "I'm no invalid, I'm no baby, and stop treating me like I'm unable to do anything!"

Jace drew back. "Barrett…"

"Don't! Stop making me helpless! I'm not! I can take care of myself!"

Jace threw his hands up. "Fine! Do what you want! I won't stop you!"

With that he turned around and stalked out of the room. It didn't take a genius to know what happened next. Because after a few minutes the front door slammed shut. From the outside.

Barrett stood in the kitchen, slightly swaying, wondering when good intentions had gone down the drain.

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Jace had driven over to the MoonClyde ranch, changed into the work clothes he kept in a tiny locker in the barn, and set to work on hauling dead wood off the pasture.

It had all happened on automatic. His mind was turning the fight, brief as it had been, over and over in his head. Brief and unexpectedly vicious. Cade had never snapped like this before; at least so badly. Sure they fought. Couples fought and they made up, and so did they. This time had been really, really bad. The loathing in Barrett's eyes, the fury, the dark eyes flaring with indignation and damaged pride. It was something that didn't sit well with Jace. Added to that was his worry about the man he loved. Barrett was still unable to get around much on his own, though he was a lot more mobile than a two weeks ago. But stretching? With bruised ribs? Let alone putting too much weight on the knee or grasping something with his sprained wrist?

Chet had told him Barrett needed to take it easy. Jace knew Cade wouldn't listen, would try to get back in shape as soon as he could manage the pain, and Marshall had done his best to beat his partner into listening to the doctor's orders.

Of course, it meant fighting.

_I left him. I ran out the door without thinking. _

The kitchen had been a mess and Cade had an appointment this morning with the Doc.

_Shit._

Jace lost himself in work and the day went by. He got a sandwich from the kitchen and a frown from Razia as she handed him a cup of coffee.

"Man trouble?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"I know you guys can be a pain when you so much as get a cold. Pete's busted ribs had me tune his moaning out after a while. I bet Barrett's not a happy camper."

Another shrug.

"Kick his ass out of the house yet?"

"There was that thought briefly…"

But they shared the house. Barrett wasn't just using the farm as a sleep-over. There was no-where for either one to go should things get uncomfortable and so far they had always found a middle way. Then again, it had never been this bad. He had never had a seriously hurt Barrett at home.

She laughed. "He should be thankful you're so patient. I would have torn him a new one if he's just half as bad now as he is when he's chasing a criminal."

With that she turned back to fighting with the paperwork in her office.

Jace sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He needed sleep. Real sleep. Last night had been too brief, and he was still feeling the shock waves of the heated argument, the fury in Cade's voice, the blazing eyes – and the pain.

Damnit!

Jace packed up his things and drove home. He took the scenic route, which gave him an hour to think, then turned at the next intersection and headed up Sunstreak Road and his home. He didn't know what kind of welcome he would get, but he would at least hold out the olive branch.

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Cade had spent the day beating himself up over the fight. He had called Jace twice on his cell, but each time he hadn't picked up and Barrett hadn't left a message.

He had cleaned the kitchen as best as he could, had taken the Mustang to his appointment – even though his knee protested the stick-shift driving -- and while the Doc hadn't been happy, he had cleared him for light duty next week. The fall hadn't aggravated his knee or ribs much. His wrist was getting better, too, and the stitches had finally come out.

He had swung by the Sheriff's office. Blake had given him a dark look of disapproval. It was mirrored by the visitor Blake had had, Jon Hight. Hight owned a hardware store in town and would have made a good deputy too, if he hadn't had an even harder head than Cade. They rarely got along and it usually ended in glares and mumbled insults. The moods lasted for about an hour and then everything was forgotten. Finch called it a love-hate relationship, though Barrett had yet to find anything to love or even like about the older man.

"Whatcha doin' here?" Blake drawled. "Thought you were supposed to be home."

"I went to see the Doc. I'm cleared for desk duty."

Blake's grunt had been oh-so telling. "You know what a desk looks like, sheriff?"

"Don't make me fire you, Sides."

"As if you could find some other lunatic willing to work for you, Cade. Now get back in that car and go home. It's not Monday yet."

Hight just smirked. "Town's gonna be aquiver for a while longer then, with the famous sheriff laid off behind a desk."

"Shut your trap, Hight."

"Hey, I'm here on official business and you're on sick leave."

Cade glared at him, then shot Blake a similarly dark look. His deputy made shooing motions, and he finally limped out. Outside he suppressed a grin and headed back for his car. He knew the office was in good hands.

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Now Barrett sat in the living room, contemplating. It was already late and he wondered if Jace would come at all. His lover had every right to spend the night away from the ill-tempered sheriff. Grumpy and angry at his injury and pissed-off and very frustrated. Sex had been a no-go for obvious reasons and maybe it had only added to the general mood. Cade had never been so acutely aware how intimate they were with each other, not just sexually, until each move, each dip of the mattress had sent prickling pain through his body.

When the key turned in the lock, he laboriously got to his feet. Jace walked into the house, stopped short, face shadowed by indecision and a careful hesitancy that made Barrett's stomach clench.

"Hey," he managed.

Jace didn't even smile. "Hey."

Cade limped closer. He was walking much better than before and the limp was barely there. Jace's eyes ran over him, checking him, and came to rest briefly on the injured knee.

"I'm fine," Cade answered the unspoken question. "Doc checked me out. I'm back on desk duty."

"Sorry about this morning," Jace murmured.

Barrett came even closer, each step a little victory, and finally was close enough to be in Jace's personal space.

"You did nothing wrong. It was me. I… took my frustration out on you."

Blake would probably get an ear exam if he ever heard him apologizing. Finch would simply keel over. And Hight would use it as blackmail material.

One last limp had him up close and personal and Cade did the only thing he could think of to bridge the last gap. He cupped his lover's neck and tugged very gently. Jace followed the move, their lips meeting. The kiss was almost chaste.

"Sorry," Barrett whispered once more against the moist lips. "Sorry."

Definite coronary for anyone associated with him and hearing this.

Jace looked terrible. Tired and wasted and in bad need of sleep and some time off. Not from work, but from taking care of the frustrated person his lover had become.

"C'mon," Barrett said softly, stepping back. "Let's get you something to eat and then sleep."

"Barrett…" Jace started to protest, but the other was adamant.

He had his way and within an hour, Jace was in their bed next to him, sleeping. It hadn't taken very long after a quick sandwich dinner to have Marshall get some shut-eye. It was testimony to how badly he needed it.

Cade let his fingers run through the sun-streaked hair, marveling on their relationship once more.

"Love you," he whispered.

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Barrett was finally able to walk and work normally a few weeks after his return to the desk. Kneeling was painless and he no longer felt like something inside his knee joint was about burst or his ribs were about to break apart if he moved wrong. Cases kept him busy and happy, but he didn't lose sight of his lover. He realized that their relationship had been under some stress because of his injury and while he would deny having feelings of guilt, he had feelings of guilt.

He had to make up for this. He wasn't the flowers and Hallmark cards kind of guy, so he did it his way. Most of it involved touches, gestures and making sure they had pasta at least once a week. Jace loved it in every variation.

Their love life had revived with Barrett's ability to actually enjoy movement without twinges and pains, and they had made good use of all kinds of flat surfaces around the house. Just hearing Jace's moans and words of encouragement had been like an absolution.

Studying his lover as Marshall reclined on the couch, looking lazy and relaxed, Cade shook his head. He had never intended to hurt his partner. Others would argue he was an ass, had always been one, and Jace didn't deserve him, and they would be right. He didn't. But here they were, into their sixth year as a couple and a much larger number of years as lovers.

Gossip be damned.

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Jace gave a contented sigh, interlaced fingers resting on his stomach. The TV was on, running a documentary, and he listened to it, lazily watching the images flicker over the screen. A hand was caressing his head, stroking his hair, and he snuggled deeper into the warm hold of his lover.

Lunch had been great, but the TV cuddling on their comfy couch was even better. It was three in the afternoon, the sun was high in the sky, life happened outside, but he couldn't care less. This was their day, their weekend. It would be as slow and lazy as they could make it.

He dozed off after some time, coming around to the aroma of coffee and the absence of the warmth he had felt next to him before. Opening his eyes he discovered Barrett walking over from the kitchen, carrying two mugs. It was just past four, so he hadn't slept more than an hour.

"Coffee?" his partner offered.

"Yeah, thanks." He sat up, yawning.

Jace sipped at the hot, black liquid. He watched Cade over the rim of his mug, took in the relaxed, completely off duty appearance, the casual clothes, the faint smile.

He held out his hand.

It was taken.

Jace brushed his lips over Barrett's, pulling him close. The mouth underneath his lips opened and tongues brushed against each other. Jace's fingers quickly found their way underneath the dark shirt, touching bare skin, caressing and teasing it. Barrett moaned softly in appreciation and Jace smiled. They were still on the couch, Barrett more on him than on the couch, and when Jace pushed his hips up, hands on his partner's butt, his hints were eagerly taken.

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Jace ran into Berta a few days later in Sunbow's famous little coffee stop, the Bee Hive Café, run by Sam Witwicky and his fiancée Mikaela Banes. The kid's parents lived over on Mission City High Road. They ran Sunbow's nursery, growing amazing plants, which had won in contests already. There was little those two didn't know about plants and there was only one address to go to if you wanted your lawn trimmed, your garden revitalized or your pathways repaired.

Sam had shown little interest in gardening. He had opened up the café in a cul-de-sac sidestreet to Main. He served a mean coffee when he wasn't racing in the interstate championships. His sunbright yellow Camaro with the trademark black stripes was quite successful and Sam financed the coffee shop with his winnings.

"Good to see you guys made up," Berta greeted him.

Jace groaned. "Does everyone know about this?" he sighed.

"No, only those who know our sheriff. It's not the first time he was hurt and behaved like an ass."

Jace stiffened. "What do you mean?" he asked warily.

Berta tilted her head. "You don't know? Then again, you can't know. It happened while you were still in service with the Army."

"Berta…"

She gestured at him to sit down at one of the old tables with their scuffed tops. "It was right after Orrin took over from old Abe Trinion as mayor. There were rumors about kids getting into occult stuff up, right down to sacrificing animals. Since there had been dead sheep and goats all around, Barrett, Blake and Boone were busy hunting down clues."

"Boone?"

"Oh, you never met him either. Boone Crusher. He made sheriff over in Connville."

Jace shrugged.

"Anyway, Barrett was alone when he stumbled upon those kids. They ran, he chased them, but it was dark and he stepped into a gopher hole or something. Broke his arm when he fell and twisted his ankle. Blake and Boone got them rounded up, though. Doc took care of our sheriff, but he was a real ass to be around for the days to follow. You weren't there to cushion the temper," Berta added with a fine smile.

"He's not mean-tempered," Jace muttered a protest.

"No, just pissed-off when he requires help for personal stuff. He would call the FBI to get a criminal, but he won't so much as ask for a hand to get up."

_Oh isn't that true?_ Jace thought.

Still he loved him. He knew he had his own faults and Barrett had lived through the nightmares after his return home. He had dreamed about nearly dying, about getting shot and about shrapnel burying in his skin and hands pulling him around. Jace had no clear idea what had really happened that last mission, only that he had barely survived it. The nightmares were never clear either, just frightening.

Barrett had been there, no questions asked.

Not to mention their usual fights over sometimes little things that neither could really remember in the end. It was just them.

And Cade was a mean patient.

He sighed again.

"He's back to work now, right?"

"Yeah. And happy."

Berta laughed. "Of course he is, honey. It's in his blood. He's law enforcement and always will be. Sunbow's glad to have him. And we're all glad he has you. You mellowed him, though don't let him hear it."

She winked.

Jace felt embarrassment rise.

"Don't look like that, Jace. You're good for him. We could tell when it got serious by how relaxed Barrett suddenly was."

"Berta…"

She squeezed his hand. "Don't worry. Our secret."

With that she got up and put a lid on her Styrofoam cup to take the rest of her large tea with her to work. Jace smiled thankfully at her.

_I'm glad to have him, too_, he thought. _'Cause he's the best thing that ever happened to me._

.  
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.

.

.

Peter Clyde – Powerglide  
Razia Moore – Moonracer  
Berta – Beta  
Dr. Chet Foxworth – Ratchet. Really had trouble naming him. His voice actor on the movie is Robert Foxworth  
Abe Trinion – Alpha Trion  
Sam, Mikaela and Bee Hive Café – do I have to spell it out?  
Finch Firenzy – Frenzy  
Blake Sides – Blackout (Out exterior side, if you are creative and own a thesaurus…)  
Boone Crusher – Bonecrusher  
Jon Hight – Ironhide (Ion Jon)

Roads and towns have been named after places in the TF universe (G1 and movie) or characters (Sunstreaker, anyone?)

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fin for this part. I'll be off on two weeks of vacation starting tomorrow, so no new stories from me until then. :)


	3. Code 10 99

TITLE: Sunbow, Montana III – Code 10-99  
AUTHOR: Macx  
RATING: PG-13  
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money  
Author's Voice of Warning (aka Author's Note):  
English is not my first language; it's German. This is the best I can do. Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize The spell-checker said everything's okay, but you know how trustworthy those thingies are...  
FEEDBACK: Loved

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I'm in a fluffy mood... sorry... and I continued my Sunbow AU... sighs

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Jace Marshall leaned back against the counter of Hight Hardware, sipping the strong but very good coffee served free for customers from an old but very reliable machine, and watched the busy street through the open door. It was September and the annual Main Street Festival was starting up. All stores were open for it, cafes served on the sidewalk, restaurants and bistros offered Festival specials, and all stores had some kind of Festival sale. At Hight's, it was household items.

People were dropping in, saying their hellos and talking about home improvements, the Festivals, horses, cattle and the weather.

Jon Hight, owner of the store, was chatting amiably with a blonde woman in her mid-thirties who was holding a mixer. Jace suppressed a smirk. Arielle Paxton, Mayor Orrin Paxton's wife, had dropped in half an hour ago and had headed straight for the cook wear section, only to make a beeline for the kitchen tools after a second of hesitation. She was a woman with one well-stocked kitchen, Jace always figured, because she left half her income from the needlework shop she had a few blocks down Main in here. She also cooked a mean stew and her apple pie was to die for. October would bring the next festivities, the Halloween weekend, and usually there was a bake-sale that people from all over town always anticipated.

"Hey, Elle," Jace greeted her when Arielle came to the counter to pay for the mixer and a stack of kitchen linen.

"Hello, Jace. Helping out with Jon's sale?"

"Nah. Nicking a free coffee," he laughed.

"You and every other leech in town," the older man grumbled good-naturedly.

"Other people would call them 'friends', Hight."

"I call them what I want. That'll be 68.99," he turned to address Arielle.

She handed over her credit card and waited to sign the credit card slip.

"I heard Jack and Logan have an exhibit out in the Courtyards."

Jace nodded. "They do. I should know. Wheeler got me into helping him wrangle all that junk down from his ranch."

"I think they are beautiful works of art."

"Especially that new raptor," Jon laughed.

"Barrett threatened to shoot it should they pin up its history," Jace supplied, smirking.

"He would," Arielle said as she picked up her shopping bag. "Bye, boys. See you later."

Jace walked over to the sink, rinsed out his cup, and placed it on the towel left of the sink. "Well, I'll be off, too. Promised to swing by Sam's before I go and see how our boys in blue are doing. I think Blake's become addicted to that double shot mocha."

Jon waved at him and Jace threaded his way through the growing crowds. The Bee Hive Café was busy, but when Mikaela saw him, she slipped his order in between the other customers and Jace was outside, with two hot specialty coffees in under fifteen minutes.

The Sheriff's office was rather quiet compared to the hubbub outside. Finch was in the back office, as usual, and he crowed in delight when Jace handed over a way too sweet and absolutely too strong coffee to the computer specialist. The last thing Finch needed was more sugar or caffeine. Then again, Jace had never seen him on a low. He was always high-strung.

"Where's Blake?"

Finch gestured toward the toilets, already gulping down the burning hot liquid, looking blissed-out.

Deputy Blake Sides appeared a minute later and groaned thankfully at Jace's offering. "You're a life saver!"

"I do what I can. Where's Barrett?"

"Over on 5th. We had a 415."

"Disturbance?" Jace translated. He still knew his codes and living with a law enforcement officer meant you picked up a few things after a while, too.

"The Seekeras."

Jace rolled his eyes. "Again? Over what?"

"Who knows? Some trivial matter. Cade's gonna be pissed as hell when he gets back. Good that you're here, Jace."

"Oh thanks, Blake. Thank you so much," he sighed.

The Seekeras were Sky and Star Seekera, the two unlucky souls whose parents had been left over from the hippie era and had named all their children after something celestial or the weather. Sky and Star were twins and pretty well known around Sunbow for their fights. Both ran a Nature Company store and had a very successful internet sales business. Still, when their tempers flared and one accused the other of something, disturbance alerts rolled into the Sheriff's office. Sky and Star had two older siblings, Sun and Storm, but neither lived in Sunbow any more. Nor did their parents, who had moved to San Francisco on the road to 'enlightenment'.

Jace had had no plans, aside from enjoying the Festival and then maybe drag Barrett off to look at Wheeler's dinosaurs, though that might be a bad idea after the twins. If Cade was on a short fuse, he wouldn't enjoy looking at his former patrol car in shape of a raptor called Barricade.

It was not twenty minutes later that his partner walked into the office, storm clouds almost literally boiling over his head. Blake suppressed a smirk, gave a sloppy salute, and slipped out onto the streets to take a look around.

"What are you doing here?" Barrett snapped as he discovered Jace.

"And hello to you, too, sunshine. I was over at Hight's and thought I'd supply your faithful troops with caffeine, maybe catch some lunch with you….?"

The dark eyes flared with still barely suppressed anger from the encounter with the twins and Barrett just snarled something under his breath.

"Or," Jace continued amiably, "I'll head over to the Courtyards and have a look at things there."

With Barrett's mood not getting any lighter, he knew it was better to let him work that one out by himself. Jace had known his partner long enough to take a hint. Right now Cade was close to blowing up in someone's face.

"Barrett, deep breaths. It only happens every other month," Jace said softly, smiling, then walked out the door.

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Finch frowned at the sheriff over his flatscreen.

"What?" Barrett demanded.

"You're one lucky guy that Jace still sticks around with that temper of yours," the computer geek only said. "I'd have kicked your ass all across Ark County for that." He then returned to whatever he was doing.

Cade glared at him before sitting down behind his desk, pushing papers and files around. He knew he had been unfair to his partner, but the Seekeras brought out the worst in everyone when they were fighting over trivial matters. It was their hobby, it seemed, but it was also a disturbance of the neighborly peace, so the law was called.

Barrett sighed. Yeah, Jace had to be the most patient man in the world sometimes. He had no idea why they fit so perfectly together, despite appearances to the contrary. They just did.

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It was late in the evening, the lights bathing the Courtyards in warm colors. The shops had closed. People were now milling around the food and drink places, walking through Wheeler's metal dinosaur park at the end of the Courtyards, and waiting for the fireworks that concluded this year's festival. There had been no further incidents, aside from children getting lost, someone twisting his ankle, and a hysteric woman claiming her bag had been stolen – only to have it returned to her by Berta, who had found it in the Bee Hive Café.

Barrett locked up the office for the night. Blake was on call tonight and Finch had left early. Whether he was really on a date was anyone's guess, but hey, anyone could get lucky. Even a hyper-caffeinated computer geek like Firenzy.

He hadn't seen Jace all day after coming back from the 415 where he had to get his ears yelled off by the outraged twins. Cade knew he had been in a foul mood after that, at least until after an hour later when his temper had finally settled. Firenzy had only given him a pointed look in the end that told him that he should get over it and behave like the town's law again.

So he had.

Picking up lost children, removing two illegally parked vehicles – making the day of Hook Towing -- and explaining the concept of one-way streets to a five-year old who had blown bubble gum bubbles at him. Blake had been called to a road accident on Old Tranquility, but it had only been a fender bender, nothing serious.

And now he was off duty, walking through the dark streets of his hometown, heading for the Courtyards to meet his partner. He had called up ahead and Jace had told him he'd be at the dinosaur exhibit. It was closed by now, but it would stay in town for another week until Wheeler would move it back to his ranch. He was hoping to attract buyers. He had already started an internet site with his art on display and the asking prices. Surprisingly enough he had sold his pterodactyl already. Miracles never ceased.

Barrett found Jace just where he had said he would be. Dressed in old blue jeans, a white shirt and boots, leaning against the fence post of the entrance, finishing an ice cream cone, Jace Marshall looked like a GQ ad. His GQ ad, Barrett mused. Damn, he was one lucky guy.

Jace smiled as he saw him and Barrett smiled back. "Got off late," his lover remarked.

"Ran into Elle. She and Orrin want us over for Thanksgiving."

"It's only September…"

"Elle mentioned something like evasion tactics and early notifications," Cade said with a shrug.

Jace laughed. "And who could she mean by that?"

"I had to work!"

"Riiight. Not like Blake didn't tell me you almost begged him to switch shifts with you that day."

"I didn't. He had a date the week before and I said I would take his shift…"

Jace pulled him close by his shirt and shut him up with a kiss. He tasted of vanilla and peach. "I know you, Barrett Cade, and I wonder how you ever made sheriff with your poor social skills."

He growled something under his breath which only made the other man smile more.

"Orrin wants to be a good friend."

"And that little brat of his just wants to torment me."

"Roddy? He's a sweet kid."

"He's a menace."

Jace wrapped an arm around his waist, kissing him again. Somewhere in the distance an early starter fired off a rocket and it bloomed a beautiful green.

"You love him."

"I'd throw him in jail if I could."

"He's four, Barrett."

"Life sentence."

Jace laughed against his neck, his warm breath ghosting over Barrett's skin. "I'll tell Elle we accept and this time I'll make sure you are there, no shift changes."

Cade sighed deeply.

"C'mon," Jace stepped back and tugged him a few steps along.

"Where to?"

"To see the dinosaurs."

"Jace…"

"You'll love yours."

"He brought that thing over?!"

Blue eyes lit up with laughter. "Yes."

"Wheeler…" Barrett snarled.

"It's really great. C'mon, Barrett. Be a good sport."

He snorted, but he followed his partner through the exhibit, past dinosaurs made of all kinds of scrap metal, until they reached a red and blue lit up one. It was as tall as Cade, looked remotely like a raptor, and still had the police decals on its sides. He groaned. That had been his car until a drunk had pushed it, with him inside, down Mission Hill.

"I think it's great," Jace said, smiling.

"It was my car."

"You got a new one."

"And he called it Barricade?"

"I'd be honored in your place."

"You would."

"Yep." Jace stood shoulder to shoulder with him. "I think it's perfect."

"You think I'm a dinosaur?" Barrett asked evenly.

"No. The raptor. You. It fits."

He should be tickled, honored, whatever, but looking at his former patrol car still hit a sore spot inside Cade.

Another brilliantly green and blue fireworks display went off, soon followed by more.

"Hey, they've started," Jace commented. "Cool."

The dark sky lit up with all kinds of colors, with sparklers and streaks of gold and silver, with howlers and hissing, sizzling sparks. Barrett wrapped his arms around his lover and pulled him close, Jace's back to his chest, and rested his chin on the left shoulder.

They watched the fireworks until the last blooms faded. Jace turned in his arms and kissed him.

"Hungry?"

"Restaurants will be full."

They always were at the end of the Festival when people flocked to the eateries.

"Mia is keeping a table for us."

Barrett chuckled. "You thought ahead."

"Always do. So? Dinner?"

"Sounds fine by me."

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The restaurant was truly crowded. Cade nodded a greeting or said a hello to who they knew as they walked to their table. Mia came over with a bright smile on her lips.

"Hey, boys. Want the menu or are you going with the dinner special?"

They agreed on the special, as well as beer for both of them, and Mia walked off into the kitchen. Jace leaned back, surveying the crowd, feeling right at home. Barrett was slowly unwinding, too, his shoulders relaxing. Tension eased out of him and a fine smile played around his lips as he watched Willy and Chase playing at the table near-by. Willy was coloring a book and Chase, the older boy, was reading a Harry Potter novel. Their parents were still eating, talking animatedly.

When Mia brought over their drinks, Jace nodded his thanks. "Say, I don't see Jon here."

"He's in the kitchen. Rico is feeding him dinner," she chuckled.

Mia and Jon had been an on and off item for years now. Actually they were a constant couple, sometimes more, sometimes less. They fought, they made up, they lived more or less together, but each had his or her own place. Mia would probably marry him right on the spot, but Hight had a kind of aversion – allergy, Barrett always remarked with mirth – concerning serious engagements.

Ten minutes later they also had their food and from the way Cade dug in, he had to be hungry. Jace simply enjoyed himself among people he knew, with his partner, with good food, and he stole a few fries from his lover's plate now and then without getting stabbed by a fork.

It had been a great day. A great festival, just like every year.

No, he wouldn't exchange this life for anything.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllll

Jace knew he was a dead man. The moment he had made the decision to buy the raptor he had also signed his death warrant. Barrett would kill him. Plain and simple.

But Jace loved the dinosaur. It looked sleek and dangerous and it had been created out of Cade's former patrol car. The black and white color was still present and Wheeler and Grim had found ingenious ways to include all the little details about the car into their metal creature.

Jack had given him that squinty-eyed look that told Jace the other was very much aware of what Marshall was doing and pitied him, but he had taken the money anyway. Logan had brought the metal monster over on his truck and with a winch, a lot of sweating and swearing, they had hauled all the parts off and Logan had put them together again.

Looking at their new 'family member', Jace smiled to himself. He didn't know why he had done it; not really. Part of it was sponsored by the relief he had felt back then that the accident hadn't killed his partner. Another part wanted to help Jack and Logan with their business. And a small part was simply fascinated by the raptor itself.

_So much like Barrett_, he mused.

Jace Marshall had been trained by the Army, had served with Special Ops, had been on black ops missions, and he knew how to take a life, how to infiltrate, how to spy. Barrett Cade was simply the sheriff of a small Montanan town, but to Jace he was much more of the raptor than Jace felt he himself was one.

Strange, he thought. I could probably take him down in a fight, but I would never try because his very presence is so… imposing, so dangerous.

He laughed a little to himself.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllll

When his partner came back that afternoon, Jace was down in the basement and going through what he called their personal flea market. He was boxing up stuff neither had used in years and was labeling it all to give to charity.

Jace came up the stairs and gave his lover a kiss. "Blake kicked you out?" he asked, smiling.

"Yeah. He said to go home and not pester him."

Barrett usually worked overtime and the deputy tried to man-handle him home if there were no pressing matters. It was just that Cade liked to wrap up everything, type his reports, file what needed to be filed, and then check on everything once more. Blake would complain, threaten to call Jace if he didn't get his ass home, and finally resort to some sort of blackmail. It was a daily ritual.

Jace took an envelope down from the shelf with the mugs on it and handed it to the other man. "Happy birthday, Barrett."

Brows drew down as Barrett opened the envelope, then shot up in disbelief.

"You didn't…!"

Jace smiled widely. "I did."

The dark eyes flared. "What the fuck, Jace?"

"C'mon! How couldn't I? It's beautiful!"

"It was my car!"

"One more reason to buy it."

"Jace!"

"That's my name." Jace grabbed his arm and pulled him outside. "He's around the back."

"It," Barrett insisted.

"Whatever."

He pulled his lover with him around the house and couldn't suppress that really wide, happy smile at the sight of Barricade the raptor. Wheeler had captured it on the prowl, the gleaming red eyes – the car's former strobe lights – alert, the jaws opened just enough to capture a hint of sharp teeth. It was bending forward, fingers curled in anticipation of a successful hunt, the strong hind legs balancing it perfectly together with the long, whip-like tail. Its belly was white, the front, including the head, as well as the hind legs and tail black. 'Police' was written on the sides of the belly.

Barrett gazed at it with a mixture of disbelief, fading anger and bemusement. He walked slowly around the whole sculpture that he had only seen lit up in the exhibit at night.

"You're crazy," he finally stated, voice softer than before.

"I know."

"You actually paid money for this?"

"It was the only currency Jack would accept," Jace joked.

Barrett glared at him, but the anger was by now gone. "Idiot."

Jace joined him and wrapped an arm around his waist. "I know."

The kiss that followed was slow and loving and expressing all Barrett wasn't saying out loud. The ringing of Jace's cell phone interrupted and he fumbled it out of his pocket.

"Has he killed you yet?" Blake's voice rumbled over the phone.

Jace laughed. "No, he hasn't. Actually, he is just about to thank me for it." He winked at Cade.

"Leave out the details," the deputy warded off any more information on that particular tidbit. "Was just checking if you were still alive."

"Yeah, thanks, Blake, but I can handle my partner."

Barrett raised his brows, smirking. Jace hung up and pocketed the cell.

"Where were we?" Marshall asked.

"I was about to say thanks," his partner reminded him.

"Hm, yes. So…?"

Barrett pulled him closer again, capturing those smiling lips. "How about we continue this inside? I want to unwrap my other present?"

"I wasn't aware of a second present."

"Hm, but I saw one." Cade slipped a hand under Jace's t-shirt, playing his fingers over the skin.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, really," came the purr.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllll

.

.

New characters:

Mia – Chromia  
Rico – Ricochet  
Willy and Chase – Wheelie (I kept thinking Willy Wheeler, but I couldn't do that to Jack, the poor guy :P) and Chase  
Arielle Paxton – Ariel/Elita  
Roddy – Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime  
The Seekeras – the Seekers (Starscream, Skywarp and Sunstorm (who was split into two people because he appeared only once ;) ))


End file.
